Final Blog

Tonight we leave for Lake Arrowhead for our last weekend before Scott and I leave for the east, and Mark starts to work in the parts department at the Honda dealership. The photos above are of our last summer show until we meet again in Chico. We have had an unreal experience, and have had a silly time blogging for those interested in our stories. We would like to leave you with a video that really sums up the past couple months.
Love, us.

As Your Manager...

The past 4 days we have been in San Luis Obispo and Goleta. We have a lot to write, so we have structured the blog in a way that separates the trip into different events written by all three of us. Being serious blognerds, we pride ourselves over this kind of clarity and organization.

Our first show was at The Clubhouse in San Luis Obispo and me and Mark were one act of about 7 that night, so we played only a few songs. The owner then asked us to come back to do a full show on Friday. We remained calm to show him that he asking us this was standard, but later I showed an unacceptable amount of excitement. That night we stayed at a friend of Mark's house, where we watched Step it Up 2. Simply genius. The next day we practiced all afternoon before a show that night at a coffeehouse called Linnaeas. Scotty played with us for about 5 of the songs, and it added a New Jersey flare that shocked the coastal listeners. We met a pair of friends who enjoyed the music, and they invited us to stay at their house. Before we did that, we went to Woodstock's Pizza for drinks. Chico's Woodstock's is much better. Scott will continue..

-Pat

It is an understatment to say that we met a pair of friends. We met two of the funniest and friendliest people that I have encountered in quite some. Immediately, we found ourselves in a perilously humourous position, sitting on a strange roof in a strange neighborhood with some of us smoking Chinese cigarettes. It was an absolutely great time. After a late night of stories and outlandish cartoons, it was time to pick our sleeping spaces. Pat lost in both odds and evens and rock, paper, scissors, and was "forced" to occupy a sleep area known as "the nook." The nook (from the foolish outsider) appears as to be a mess of blankets and dust, but in actuality, Pat described it as a sanctuary of sleep heaven. I slept on a small blow up pad and snapped pictures of cranky late-night Mark (He's putting pressure on me to delete this comment, growing ever crankier while he stands over me). I was thrilled to have gotten to play with Pat and Mark at Linnea's and we carried that over into a great show on Friday night at the Clubhouse. We ended with the rip-roaring "That's all I have to say about that" and we had the pleasure of hanging out with all of our new friends after the show. The evening seemed to be normal (which is a relative term for this tour) until Pat tapped me on the shoulder and asked for my shoe...Mark will continue.

-scott

Late one evening after our show at the Clubhouse we found ourselves at the bar. A night of free drinks led to the inevitable quoting of Old Greg. In honor of Greg himself, Pat asked Scott for his shoe and ordered a shot of Baileys....the rest is history. Later on in the week we got totally lucky and were able to book a one night stay at the classy Bacara Resort, just north of Santa Barbara, free of charge. Thanks to a family connection to Honda. We literally lived like kings for about a day and a half, it was glorious. We met an owl named Bubba, ate classy foods, drank classy drinks, wore classy robes, and did other assorted classy things. It was a lovely change from the Motel 6 in Isla Vista the night before. On Saturday we had a show in the small coastal town of Grover Beach. Then we drove back to my house in LA and relaxed. Great week.

-mark

Scotty Jazz FIngers

Mark bought a stand up bass today, which is the most intimidating instrument ever. Scott faced the scary beast as shown below. We played at an open mic called Kulak's Woodshed tonight. Well..good night.

Pat

Activities

Mark and I played a show at the Verity Room opening up for a local band called The Harm. Mark played his nylon like he was combing a pony's mane, as I sang, begging people to differentiate me from Neil Young and the lead singer from the Format. My friend Scott sat in the back, babysitting dusty merchandise.

We went to a party last night after a delicious barbeque at the Robertsons. The party was actually a birthday party for McLovin from SuperBad who lives here in LA, no joke. Our friend/drummer Bob Reynolds joined us at both events. We haven't seen him in a long time, and celebrated his return from Alaska with a concert in Mark's living room, in which Bob played whatever percussive object in sight including the pepper shaker, rice in tupperware, and knocking on the coffee table with his fist. It was a great, nostalgic show.

We leave for San Luis Obispo this Tuesday for a few shows. I look forward to that adventure. I hear it is beautiful there.

Pat

It was all a dream

Or I would like to believe it was. small May-June compilation.
-lil' jonny jump-ropes

We'll be gone 'till November

I came to California to join the tour on July 7th, and I must say what I've experienced thus far has been an absolute blast. After traveling from Michigan to California, I was welcomed into Mark's home. I've eaten more (and more healthily) here than I have in years. I arrived to a lot of cool relaxing activities i.e. swimming, heading to an awesome record store in Hollywood, and catching up with Pat and getting to know Mark. Pat and Mark had basically just played for a month straight and it seemed as if a little down time was definitely welcome. The guys played some new tunes at an open mic at the Verity Room in Canoga Park. The crowd was full of fun musicians and they were more than receptive. People were happy to hear that we were going to back on Friday night for a full show. I've promised Mark's parents that I will pay them rent if they let me live this life of luxury here forever...they seem interested. Tonight, some rehearsing took place along with an unexpected (Sean Paul-esque) version of an old Pat Hull classic. The video should provide you with a solid idea of what we've been up to.

Scott

Down to Los Angeles

That's me, on a raft, in an underground pool, at Mark's LA pad. This makes me happy.

I went for a bike ride today, my first mountain bike adventure. It was titillating. It was actually frightening. The unstable feeling of riding down a steep rocky hill reminded me of when my friends coerced me to chug egg nog during Christmas time. I was scared and expressed this to Mark. I said we need to slow down. He understood and put his arm around me like a father whose son just could not jump in the deep end of the pool.

We played at our first show tonight. It was at a bar called 14 below. It was the kind of bar that dimmed the lights a single step above pitch black to really let you know that you should be depressed and drink as much as possible. So I had a frothy Guinness. We played a good set. We then watched the next band who was a Swedish band called Southern Skyline that sang country songs. What a life it is.

Ashland, Oregon

After a nice day off we arrived in Ashland. We played an open mic the first night that was hosted by the musician that was sharing the stage with us the next night. We spent one night in Ashland and one night in Medford. We got a chance to poke around the town and enjoy some time in the beautiful Lithia park. The following night we played a show at the Ashland Beanery and then a live preformance/interview on KSKQ radio. After the radio show we hit the road for a 3 and a half hour drive back to Chico. We arrived in Chico in the morning hours. Its good to be home.

Day Off - Redwood Forest

We had a day off after our show in Eureka. We traveled up the North Coast through Crescent City and into Brookings, Oregon.

Eureka - Old Town Coffee

I was awakened at 6 am in the town of Arcata after driving all night. I got some coffee and explored the foggy coastal town on foot. I also got to take a self-guided tour of Humboldt State University. Later in the day we headed into Eureka and explored the town, looked through book stores, and got some food. The town was very peaceful and quiet, the only noises being the occasional fog horns of a small fishing ships coming into the nearby port. We played an open mic at Has Beans, and then headed over to our show at Old Town Coffee. The show went well. We were surprised by two friends from Chico who were on vacation in the area and came by to see the show. They were nice enough to let us stay with them at their campground they had in the redwood forests nearby. It was beautiful. The next day we did some sight-seeing and a small hike along the far northern coast of California. There were beautiful redwoods and lush ferns growing everywhere. We headed through Crescent City and eventually stayed in the small town of Brookings, Oregon. This morning we drove to Ashland and checked into a small motel.

-mark

Warm Welcome in Wine Country

We were awakened by then sun early yesterday morning and headed through rolling hills and vineyards into the town of Sonoma. We wandered the town most of the day checking out some of the historical landmarks of the area. We had a last minute show at the Barking Dog Roasters in the early evening, and then headed out to the town of Sebastopol to play at the Ace Cider Pub. The environment at the pub was great. Everyone was really friendly and the music seemed to be very well received. We stayed for a while, made some new friends, watched the house folk band for a while. Then we headed out for Eureka. We drove for almost 5 hours on a dark highway through forests that were filled with smoke due to the nearby wildfires. We made it to Arcata around 3am. Show tonight at Old Town Coffee in Eureka.

-mark

Santa Rosa - A'Roma Roasters

We left Brett's house in San Francisco yesterday around noon. We will greatly miss the comfort of staying there. We drove out across the Golden Gate Bridge and up through the north bay to Santa Rosa. We had a show at 8 pm at A'Roma Roasters Coffee, which was a quite large coffee shop that served a fine dark roast. Shortly after becoming jittery from the coffee, we set up and played music for a solid 2 hours. As the night went on, the establishment was getting increasingly more crowded. We found ourselves trying to project as loud as possible so people could hear us. After the show we drove to a Jack in the Box and we both ate for $5. We then we went back to the hotel..........................parking lot............and slept in the car. But it was totally cool cause there was a security guard on duty. Oh my.

-mark

Berkley - Storms coming

Tuesday night- Stormy Plough.

This video does not do our night justice, but then again- nothing could.

This is "Lady George" performing her Stormy Plough song. If I knew her address I would send her my therapy bills for the next few months.




Jon (from home, with no Neck Beard)

God Speed guys, best of luck Patty Popsicle and Stinky boom booms. Have some fundo bundo.
ps. Sorry about the ticket money, have Pat pay and I will throw him some loot in August. Just kidding I donated all my money to Lady George, just kidding I didn't..but seriously, I will.

San Francisco - Green Tortoise Hostel

We have been a bit busy running around the city so we have not been able to update for a while. Sunday was collectively decided as one of the greatest nights of the tour. We played a show at the Green Tortoise Hostel in the North Beach District of San Francisco. There was a crowd of people that we encountered nowhere else. We played to a quite large crowd of young international travelers. Before and after our set, we enjoyed ourselves meeting new people from London, Dublin, Canada, and various parts of Germany. We shared the stage with "Cryns #3", a singer/songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. As the night went on, we lost track of the time as Pat proceeded to turn the fairly large hall into a dance party when a classic James Brown song came blasting on the large house system. While engaging in a conversation with a new friend from London, I turned around to see Pat and Jon tied up in a makeshift game of indoor soccer against two English fellows. Before we knew it, it was 2am and it was time for us to head home to our friend Brett's house in the Richmond District across the city. We arrived at Bretts house only to realize that we did not have a key to get in. We sat out on the sidewalk pondering what to do while experiencing just how cold it gets in San Francisco at night. We luckily got a hold of a friend who works the night shift and were able to stay at her house in the close by Presidio District. Great fun.

-mark

Oakland-Mama Buzz

We opened up for a couple of Jazz groups at Mama Buzz in Oakland-Steven Lugemer Sextet and the Danny Lubin Group. Before we played, we hung out at the Mama Buzz cafe all afternoon. Jon drew, I read, we all played silly computer games and drank coffees. We started to play around 7:30 with only one mic on Mark's nylon guitar. I belted through the cafe and reached the ears of nostalgic parents who said I reminded them of Neil Young and Simon and Garfunkel. They said I would be suited for the 60s and 70s. The audience was super attentive which was a big morale boost for all of us. We stuck around for some Jazz. A man named Raffy blew us away on the saxophone. Our friend Brett came to the show, and now we are hanging out at his place in San Francisco for the next couple days for open mics and a show at a hostel called The Green Tortoise. Bob Reynolds is the coolest.
-Pat

Santa Clara

Woke up today, walked to the beach next to the Golden Gate Bridge, took a stroll through a nude beach by accident. So I am glad we all got to share that experience together...Then we drove/got lost all the way to Santa Clara.
Santa Clara is a little gem in the golden rolling hills south of San Francisco. This little paradise land is as close to the Garden of Eden as you will get. It is scattered with Car Dealerships-fast food restaurants-Car Dealership-chain store..etc. Its amazing, takes the breath away(literally). If I could settle down here and raise a family I would in a heart beat. Oh yea, and in the heart of the town there is an upscale shopping center-community. Its as if Disney World, a high end outlet center and the Cheese Cake Factory had a threesome and artificially created a little plastic child (with the help of a turkey baster). It rocks! I think they kill all the bugs and pump fresh air in(and kick out anyone not wearing designer clothes sold at their stores). I felt like I was on a movie set and everyone around me was made of plastic. And there are apartments for rent here!!!! You can live IN an outlet center!

Oh yea, and the open mic did not happen. So we are back in Clara tonight to kick some tushes.

Fundo Bundo. So....don't watch Requiem for a Dream before bedtime.

San Francisco

Me and Mark are sipping on Raymond Hill, a cheap bottle of red wine, Jon felt sleepy and went to bed to get his 9 hours of sleep. We are both reminiscing and looking forward. San Francisco has been strange. We played open mics, which are inherently strange. But we traveled most of the city and became somewhat familiar with the layout, which is nice. We stayed at Mike Baldwin's house one night, a friend from Branford, CT- super friendly human being. He had a dog named Louie who needed attention or else he would leap on you and demand it. I think I am going to start to do that. We are now at a friend's mom's house who works the night shift-she has beautiful China. We will leave for Santa Clara tomorrow. Best.
Pat